It's like a sci-fi movie: a transient event, seen by the Hubble telescope, rises in intensity for 100 days, and then over the next 100 fades away. Astronomers say that it doesn't match any known phenomena, and there was no known object in that location prior to the event. Gives my tingles down my spine. Hope it's not just a glitch.

This story got lost in the shuffle during the financial meltdown, but it deserves some thought. In a nutshell, a four-year-old rumor about United declaring bankruptcy was thrust to the top of Google news. Google has suggested the blame lay with the new publisher, but what cannot be denied is that the Google news link triggered an automated sell off, plunging the value of United stock. One wonders whether this will become more common in days to come.

Barton Gellman's new book called The Angler provides new first-hand accounts from inside the Bush administration, focusing on Dick Cheney's influence. The Washington Post has some fairly intense excerpts in two parts: [ part 1 | part 2 ].